patrick.net

What pray tell do you need this kind of hardware for?

Don't you not have a bank or landlord to be surrendering your non food/clothing/gas income to?

Not enough jumpers and dip switches for me.

How many turbocharged porn sniffers does it employ?

I've got a Windows 7 box w/ 2.4Ghz Conroe & 5770, and got the upgrade itch.

This box should last through into the 2020s; at half the cost of a Mac Pro, it's a good value when amortized over its years of use (hobby (?) game programming and Maya).

In real terms, the $2100 in 2014 is $1100 in 1989 money, 1/5th the cost of my IIcx.

My thing is, I don't like desktop computers anymore. I just got sick of buying hardware and hoping that it worked with other hardware you already bought. The pulling your hair out to get drivers for it, after you upgrade your OS.
I can't count the Mother boards I bought of the internet back in the day that came DOA.

Nice rig. I'm waiting for windows 9 before I upgrade. Im still using the desktop I built in spring 2009 and it still runs amazingly well and i only spent $1200. The only upgrade I made since then is upgrade the ram and get windows 8.1.

Bellingham Bill says

Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro - 64-bit - OEM

$139.99

The problem is right here. Get linux and dump all the expensive hardware.

Microsoft probably provides $140 of value, when amortized over 5-10 years at least.

But with valve's Drang nach Linux I hear ya. I haven't actually purchased any Windows software in my life ever, well, other than Visual Studio 2005.

As for the build, I may drop the CPU down to the 3.3Ghz version (which is also gimped to 28 lanes) with an eye for updating when Broadwell-E comes out next year. $200 savings there.

Also, the 970 is benchmarking close enough to the 980 I guess, so that would be another $200 savings, again with an eye towards upgrading the GPU next year or whenever it makes sense.

The Noctua DH15 looks to be marginally better than the DH14, so I might go with that, too.

Bellingham Bill says

Just waiting for Windows 9 and the Samsung NVMe (hopefully 512GB) part now . . . and drivers to settle out a bit

So, when the time comes, do you build it yourself, or do you have a guy that does it for you ?

If NVidia going to select China as a manufacturer, within months an improved Chinese copy will hit the market.

Bellingham Bill says

But with valve's Drang nach Linux I hear ya. I haven't actually purchased any Windows software in my life ever, well, other than Visual Studio 2005.

SteamOS will be the death of Windows. Not only do you get what you want within an hour or so and no trips, and can pre-download before a release date for popular titles, but Steam as the big distributor will strongarm software companies into making Linux compatible versions.

My GeForce EVGA 460SE was a good deal, I paid $180 for it 3 years ago and it's still not worth replacing it with a midrange card, I'd pay about the same again for a midrange card only to get a marginal increase in performance.

My wife, who is a committed tablet/laptop user, just asked me for a desk and a desktop. Now that's she's in charge of the Department, she's got lots of reports to write. Too irksome on a laptop at a table, even one with a 16" screen.

Bellingham Bill says

I've got a Windows 7 box w/ 2.4Ghz Conroe & 5770, and got the upgrade itch.

This box should last through into the 2020s; at half the cost of a Mac Pro, it's a good value when amortized over its years of use (hobby (?) game programming and Maya).

In real terms, the $2100 in 2014 is $1100 in 1989 money, 1/5th the cost of my IIcx.

Don't forget to add a few hundred for a new monitor as well. You'll want at least a 27" 2550x1440. (Full disclosure, I got one a few weeks ago shipped from Korea and its fantastic!)

I put my old 19" monitor to the side on the second DVI port and rotated it 90 deg thus allowing three documents to be pulled up instead of just two.

It rocks!

thunderlips11 says

My GeForce EVGA 460SE was a good deal, I paid $180 for it 3 years ago and it's still not worth replacing it with a midrange card, I'd pay about the same again for a midrange card only to get a marginal increase in performance.

I like this website to follow graphics card performance:

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu_list.php

I got a GEForce GTX 750Ti. It had a good bang for the buck ratio, is quiet and didn't need more than a 350W power supply (less heat). So far its done fantastic with everything I've thrown at it.

I also put in a 250GB Kingstion HyperX SSD drive. The XP boot speed went down from 3 minutes or so to 30s; however, the benchmarks suck - its performing about the same as a spinning drive. I did put in a SATA3 riser card so I'm not sure where the problem lies.

New Renter says

GTX 750Ti

that's the same "Maxwell" generation as the 900 series (oddly, nVidia skipped the 800 series this numerical go-around)

marcus says

do you build it yourself,

this will be my 5th Wintel build, third from newegg.

My first in the late 90s and from parts from T-Zone, a now defunct electronics superstore that was in Akihabara

http://en.akihabaranews.com/74871/highlights/t-zone-one-of-akihabara-most-famous-store-goes-under

they had an entire floor dedicated to PC parts, you'd carry your basket and fill it with the components you wanted, just like a Fry's here.

Before I discovered newegg in 2005 I really wished someone would invent it! So great having one-stop shopping and a semi-reliable review system.

Bellingham Bill says

New Renter says

GTX 750Ti

that's the same "Maxwell" generation as the 900 series (oddly, nVidia skipped the 800 series this numerical go-around)

Yep.

I don't need the latest and greatest though and really appreciate the low power consumption and quietness of this card.

Bellingham Bill says

Before I discovered newegg in 2005 I really wished someone would invent it! So great having one-stop shopping and a semi-reliable review system

Cool. I've never done it before, if only because of fears that I would buy some parts which weren't optimally compatible or that there could be driver issues. But maybe I'll try it next time. I think the lack of warranty is more than made up for the increased confidence one would have in dealing with problems on their own. Your basically covering the insurance on it yourself. Besides, I've got a guy that can help me with issues such as recovering data from a part of a bad hard drive that wasn't backed up (which should never have happened anyway if I was more careful).